1990 BMW 525i Service and Repair Manual

This factory service and repair manual for the 1990 BMW 525i starts from one engine and stays there: a 2.5L single-cam inline-six of 152 cubic inches, naturally aspirated and gasoline-fueled, carried in a four-door sedan of Base trim. A car this simple on paper is not simple in the metal after three decades, and the manual's usefulness is in the numbers it fixes: clearances, torque values, pressures, capacities and the diagnostic checks that tell wear apart from failure.

Engines covered

• 2.5L inline-six (152 cu in) — SOHC, naturally aspirated, gasoline

Body styles covered

• 4-door sedan

Trims covered

• Base

Known issues on the 1990 525i. Three recalls stand on the federal record. In one, a broken plastic bushing at the throttle housing can let the outer cable catch and hold the throttle partly open, so the car keeps pulling when it should slow. In another, the brake light switch sticks and leaves the lamps dead or permanently lit. The third covers a cooling system that can overheat and split the heater core end piece, releasing hot coolant. Complaints number 49, led by 15 on engine and engine cooling, with five each on exterior lighting and the power train.